After beating the Cubs, 7-0, on Friday, they lost two straight to even the season series between the teams to three apiece. Milwaukee left 23 runners on base in the three games and went 5 for 23 with runners in scoring position overall.

Chicago's Kris Bryant had three hits, scored three runs and put the game out of reach with a two-out, two-run home run off Adrian Houser in the seventh.

Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacín entered Sunday having gone 2-2 with a 1.59 earned run average in five starts against the Cubs in 2018.

But he wasn't facing the situation Zach Davies was a week earlier, absolutely needing to go deep into the ballgame after the Brewers burned through their bullpen in an 18-inning win over the New York Mets.

"We’re in a better situation than we were last Sunday," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell before the game, noting he was able to avoid using both Junior Guerra and Houser in the 15-inning loss Saturday. "I think we’re in a much better situation."

Orlando Arcia didn't help his cause early. A day after making a tremendous throw home to deny the Cubs a first-inning run, he made a bad one to first that allowed Bryant to reach.

Two batters later, Bryant came in to score to leave the Brewers in a 1-0 hole.

A Hernán Pérez error in the third led to a two-on, one-out situation for Chicago in the third, but Chacín worked out of it by striking out Willson Contreras and getting Kyle Schwarber to ground out.

Schwarber then helped the Brewers out with a terrible play in left field to open the fourth, allowing a routine Christian Yelich fly ball to drop in front of him for a three-base error. Jesús Aguilar, up next, singled Yelich in to knot the score at 1-1.

With the rain picking up, it remained a tie game until the fifth. The Cubs then got a two-out, seeing-eye single from Bryant that just made it between Arcia and Pérez and a double into the gap in right-center from Javier Báez to go back in front, 2-1.

Milwaukee appeared primed to at least tie it back up, if not take the lead, against Jon Lester, when Aguilar doubled to start the sixth and Yasmani Grandal followed by reaching on a swinging bunt to put runners on the corners with nobody out.

Then, just as quickly, the rally fizzled. Mike Moustakas struck out, Aguilar was tagged out at home trying to score on a grounder to shortstop by Pérez and Albert Almora Jr. ran down a Ben Gamel drive to left-center.

Chacín (3-4) got through the sixth having allowed six hits, two runs (one earned) and a walk with four strikeouts over 94 pitches. He was lifted for pinch-hitter Ryan Braun in the seventh.

After Braun fanned for the second out, Lorenzo Cain walked and Yelich singled to put runners on the corners for Aguilar. Cubs manager Joe Maddon replaced Lester with former Brewer Brandon Kintzler, and he eventually caught Aguilar looking at Strike 3 to again foil Milwaukee.

The Cubs put the game out of reach in the bottom of the frame against Houser when, with two outs and a runner on, Bryant homered to left-center to put the game out of reach.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

BRAUN OUT AGAIN: Despite tremendous career numbers at both Wrigley Field (.324 batting average, 18 homers, 69 RBI in 85 games) and against Lester (.400 in 20 at-bats), Braun was out of the lineup for the second straight game with soreness in his left hamstring but grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. .

"He’s improved, but not ready to run around the outfield, basically, is where we’re at," Counsell said.

SNEAKY MOVE: Arcia was called out trying to steal second to end the Brewers' third. Replays showed he beat the throw, but second baseman Daniel Descalso draped his left leg across the front of the bag, essentially blocking Arcia's foot from being able to reach it.

FINALLY: With his sixth-inning double, Aguilar raised his average to an even .200 for just the second time all season. The first time was on April 2.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE: TheBrewers tied a franchise record by grounding into six double plays on Saturday, matching their effort in a 25-inning game on May 8, 1984, at the Chicago White Sox. They also became the first team since the New York Yankees on April 11, 2011 to have six different players -- Pérez, Arcia, Yelich, Moustakas, Cain and Aguilar -- ground into twin killings in the same game.

Then, wouldn't you know? Two batters into Sunday's game, Yelich grounded into a 3-6-3 double play.